“This external validation is a gratifying testament to the superior care our Emergency Medical Care team provides to the children in our central Ohio region every day,” said Thomas Hansen, M.D., Children’s CEO.

Columbus Children’s operates the nation’s third busiest pediatric Emergency Department with emergency services that include a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center (the state’s first) and Pediatric Emergency Department staffed by board certified/eligible pediatric emergency medicine subspecialists 24 hours a day. The Emergency Department provides expertise in pediatric advanced life support and resuscitation as well as evaluation and treatment in all areas of acute medical and surgical conditions. Urgent Care Services are provided on the main hospital campus as well as at three community-based Close To HomeSM Health Care Centers located in Dublin, East Columbus and Westerville.

To be considered for the magazine’s exclusive survey of the top pediatric care facilities in the country, a hospital had to be among the 144 full-voting members of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions. Child magazine then narrowed the field to nearly 100, based on each hospital’s evaluation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

The semi-finalists received a 164-question survey developed with Child magazine’s Medical Advisory Board. The survey included questions pertaining to survival rates for childhood cancers, heart surgeries, organ transplants and premature births. Questions also were asked about staff qualifications; nurse-to-patient ratios; research funding and the number of clinical trials; the availability of playrooms, lending libraries, and activities to help a child’s hospital experience seem less frightening; and family services like support groups and sleeping accommodations for parents.

The Child magazine survey also ranks the best overall pediatric institutions, for which Columbus Children’s was ranked in the top 20.In addition to announcing the top five Emergency Medical Care providers, the survey also ranks the top five children’s hospitals in Cardiology, Oncology, Orthopedics and Neonatology.